LANRE ADEWOLE previews the approaching new season in the judiciary.
Should the outgoing Chief Justice of Nigeria, Oluwakayode Ariwoola, decide against the re-introduction of terminal leave of either one, three or six months, he will be leaving office on the 22nd August this year. While unconfirmed reports suggest he is planning a month retirement leave to leave office in July, no correspondence, as of press time, has emanated from his office to the National Judicial Council, which he chairs, on his imminent retirement, which would have indicated how his mind is working.
NJC’s regulation stipulates that a retiring jurist should notify the Council six months to the terminal date, to help the Council begin an early search for a replacement, and forestall either rushing through the process of filling the vacancy with an unworthy replacement or delaying the replacement process, thereby, creating more workload for those in service and leading to delay in disposing of cases.
Since 2006 when then-CJN Mohammed Uwais side-stepped the pre-retirement leave to stay till his last day in office, June 12, 2006, subsequent CJNs, eight in total, excluding the incumbent, have followed the new order, staying to the very last minute of their tenure. If the incumbent follows suit, he would just be keeping with the tradition started by Uwais, which incidentally was a fallout of his open tiff with his then-deputy and eventual-successor, Alfa Belgore, who spent seven months in office, the shortest so far for any CJN.
Uwais was the Chief Justice who ushered in the running Republic and his leadership, the longest ever in the Nigerian judiciary, also locked down the apex court bench for justices of the Court of Appeal, who now appear to have exclusive right of elevation whenever there are vacancies at the Supreme Court. The “tradition” has been sustained by all his successors, including the incumbent who recently got the largest ever number of apex bench appointments done, 11 in total, all from the Court of Appeal, to the chagrin of the inner bar, which had been crusading for decades, on the need to open the apex bench to qualified senior lawyers, for a more robust and qualitative composition.
Not even the most progressive of the past CJNs, Walter Onnoghen, could return the system to the tradition of old, when senior lawyers were appointed directly to the Supreme Court bench, with several of them, receiving accolades for outstanding performance. The new order of reserving the apex bench for Court of Appeal justices, has become so entrenched that even an attempt by an influential now-retired Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory High Court (name withheld) to move up to the apex court, straight from being CJ, was frustrated by the CJN of that era. In principle, a CJ and Justice of Court of Appeal, are at par.
His estranged friend, now an emir, who was at the Court of Appeal, at that time, got the nod ahead of him, despite the reported chummy relationship between then-CJN and the CJ. The CJ hurriedly left service due to a scandal that got the National Judicial Council, reprimanding him, even in retirement.
Ironically, despite what appears a locked-down scenario, past CJNs, were in the habit of writing to the NBA, to put forward candidates, for consideration. Earlier in the saga, Senior Advocates were being put forward by the NBA, but their constant rejection, during screening by the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC) has reduced the interest of leading lights of the Bar in the appointment process.
A former president of the NBA, Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, has been outspoken in recent times about his rejection alongside fellow Silk, Wole Olanipekun, delivering biting criticism of the Supreme Court and the alleged Mafia which he claims, controls who gets appointed to the bench. He is still pushing the National Assembly to force the closed bench open to interested and qualified lawyers, alongside the traditional consideration of the justices of the court of appeal.
To demonstrate the apathy at the bar, the last recommendation made by the NBA in 2022 was devoid of the big names, associated with past recommendations. Now-retired CJN, Tanko Muhammad had written to the NBA, asking for names to consider for the apex bench, directly from the bar.
In February of the same year, the names of 23 lawyers, with only eight SANs in the mix, were forwarded to him for consideration for the then-six vacancies at the apex bench as well as for future vacancies.
The eight members of the inner bar then included; Abugu Oromafunu, Joy Okungbowa, Mahmud Adesina, Miannaya Essien, Chukwugekwu Ezenwa, Anthony Idigbe and Edwin Obiorah and Itoyah Otaru.
Of the eight, the most known was Idigbe.
To ensure quality control and transparency, NBA even published the names of the 23 after screening and called for petitions from the public against any found wanting, a process which successive CJNs, including the incumbent, have repeatedly shunned in appointing judges, despite clamour for the same by numerous stakeholders in the system.
As expected, none of the NBA-recommended candidates cleared the nomination hurdles till Tanko was forced out four months later.
In completing the recent 11 appointments to the apex court, outgoing CJN, Kayode Ariwoola did not even engage in acts suggesting bar inclusion in the process. All the candidates for consideration came from the Court of Appeal, from the six zones and all the final picks were from the intermediate court.
Agbakoba would later describe Ariwoola’s leadership of the apex court as the worst in his 45 years of practice. NBA, which is always rushing to the defence of the bench, particularly the apex bench, under the leadership of Yakubu Maikyau, has been uncharacteristically silent, in the face of the attack by its former leader on the Supreme Court and its leadership.
The recent appointment is the last for Ariwoola as CJN and all eyes would now be on his presumed successor, going by the seniority arrangement, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, who incidentally coordinated the process that culminated in the elevation of the 11 Court of Appeal justices, as the chairperson of NJC’s appointment committee.
The committee is traditionally headed by the second most senior justice of the apex court who is also the vice chairman of the Council.
Appointed to the apex court in July 2013, she is a strong alumna of both the Court of Appeal and the top court and is largely expected to continue in the “tradition” of safe-keeping vacancies for the below court,
when her compatriots, Ariwoola and Helen Ogunwumiju exit in the course of her headship of the institution.
Generally viewed as Aloma 2.0, which is comparing her strong personality with her mentor’s, history-making female CJN, Aloma Mukhtar, Kekere-Ekun is being tipped to be a reformer. The question is if she will be won over by open race campaigners.
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